¶ … dean of nursing at Springhaven University and the Chair of the nursing department at Mountainview Community College should discuss about leadership of the collaborative curriculum development project. In order for the project to be a success, there needs to be a strict understanding about how the leadership will be divided in regards to curriculum development of the project. Since the project is collaborative, this means that the leadership belongs to them both. They both thus have a responsibility to have separate duties in the process of development. This gives them both equality, along with a division of power. This can allow the project to continue to engage in forward momentum, with all parties feeling like they still have distinct amounts of power and autonomy. Even so, as dual leaders, they need to bring their collective experience to the project as well. The Dean of Nursing at Spring Haven University has simply had different experiences, successes and failures, than the Chair of Nursing at Mountainview Community College, and vice versa. There needs to be a conversation, plan and understanding about how to bring their differing experience to the table and how to make use of all this shared wisdom.

2. What factors should be considered when deciding on leadership for the collaborative curriculum development process?

The factors that need to be considered when it comes to deciding on leadership for the collaborative curriculum process are the different strengths and weaknesses that the two separate leaders bring to the table. Also, they are both likely to have differing priorities and non-negotiables, so those differences will also need to be spelled out from the beginning. In certain companies, shared leadership can be a massive adjustment, but can ultimately bring about positive benefits. For instance, in some companies, "Using the shared leadership model gave these leaders the opportunity to focus on the areas in which they are most talented, to hire team leaders, and thus develop a successful, well-rounded and somewhat 'flattened' company vs. A more hierarchically structured company. For this organization, flattening has also meant that power, authority, and decision-making are more widely and deeply dispersed, both laterally and vertically, giving...

Fundamentally, the strongest companies are the ones where the leadership defers to other members or experts who have more experience or knowledge. While this might not be second nature to many leaders, it can be what's best in a given situation. In this case, when it comes to make a collaborative curriculum, sharing expertise will allow the curriculum to flourish and grow with a greater host of ideas, objectives and details.
3. How might a curriculum leader be selected or appointed? Who should the leader be? Should there be two leaders, one for each institution? Why or why not? How could community nursing leaders contribute to the leadership of the curriculum development enterprise?

Ideally, there should be two leaders, one for each institution: this will promote the appearance of fairness and integrity and will make both institutions feel like they're being adequately represented. Each separate leader should be well acquainted with the distinct needs of the institution they represent and be able to discuss and communicate about those needs with their corresponding partner. Furthermore, each leader needs to be willing to work with community leaders to adequately develop curriculum goals and pillars for the entire enterprise. Community nursing leaders should be an invaluable tool to the entire endeavor, as they have a specific viewpoint on the needs of the community and how to achieve them.

4. What should be included in a faculty development program to prepare potential curriculum leaders?

Any worthwhile faculty development program to prepare potential curriculum leaders should have a branch which covers emotional intelligence. Curriculum leaders will be dealing with the complex needs of a range of people, and the baggage and challenges that these people bring to the entire experience. The more emotionally intelligent they are and the more they are well-versed on how to bring certain skills of emotional intelligence to their jobs, the better off the entire project will be. "Therefore, each one of us must develop the mature emotional intelligence skills required to better understand, empathize and negotiate with other people -- particularly…